September 24, 2010

Kleybs, Agnes, Nadia, and K-Zak are into the semis of Seoul, with Klara ousting Dinara yesterday in straight sets. If you're an Ana fan, you'll be watching Kleybs' progress over the weekend in hopes that she's exhausted by the time she gets to Tokyo. Yes, it's come to this. Over in Tashkent it'll be Vezzie vs. Alla, each of whom are trying to win their first career titles. Go Vez!

As for the guys, Richard, Gilles, Techno, and Zverev are in the semifinals in Metz. The result of note? Techno reeling off 10 of the last 11 games to beat Marin in the quarterfinals. Seriously, what the french is going with that guy?

In Romania, Montanes, Granollers, Chela, and Andujar will duke it out for the last dirt title of the season.

Lastly, if you're interested at all, the qualie draw in Tokyo is pretty interesting. L-Rob is there and she won her first round match over #57 Sevastova (not an easy feat -- Sevastova won a title and beat Ana and JJ earlier this year), and she'll play the winner of Halep/Flipkens for a spot in the main draw. Whoever wins that Halep/Flipper match will have to turn around play Robbie later in the day. Good luck, Laura!

And as a random aside, I was totally shocked to see MGMT in the qualie draw. Didn't realize she'd fallen that far.

September 20, 2010

Forty years ago this week, nine women, fed up with the inequality in treatment and prize money offered to female tennis players by the USTA (then known as the USLTA) and other tournament organizing bodies, bailed on the USTA and signed $1 contracts to form what would eventually become the WTA, currently the largest and most successful professional women's sports organization in the world. They were suspended by the USTA, a rival circuit was started in an attempt to squash them, and they were branded a bunch of "crazies".

Flash forward 40 years and the WTA is the world's leading professional sport for women with over 2,200 players representing 96 nations competing for over $86 million in prize money at 53 events and four Grand Slams in 33 countries. Just last week, Kim Clijsters took home $2.2 million in prize money.

How do you like dem apples?

The first stop on the newly formed Virginia Slims tour (which would eventually become the WTA in 1973) was Stanford. Billie Jean was at the Stanford tournament in July and did a short press conference. It was absolutely awesome to be able to sit and listen to her talk about the formation of the tour and what it must have been like back in the early 70s, to risk your career and your on-court legacy, to stand up for yourself and forge what would become an incomparable legacy not only as a champion of women in sport, but of women's rights in general:

Some choice quotes:

You have to remember in 71, a lot of people weren't real happy with us when we started. A lot of players were afraid to join us. And we had two tours, two circuits, because the USTA started one against us which was very difficult at the time. I wanted everyone to be together. That was the whole intention when we started. We lost $3000 the first year. I guess that's where my prize money went. So I made zero or minus money that year. But we were very excited and very scared and we weren't sure what was going to happen to us. But it was the first tournament of the Virginia Slims series in 71.

All we wanted to do was to get professional tennis going, we weren't worried about winning majors. In fact, I must say, the tour was probably more important to us than the majors at that period of our lives. But we knew that we were taking tennis to the people and you could think about the kids who were going to come watch and could dream about playing the tournament and then going on to the majors. We knew eventually we wanted it to be international, but we had to start someplace and the opportunity was in the United States.

This was for me personally, if I had to weigh them at the time it was more important to me than just winning matches. Because I always think about things that are lasting and not just temporary. When you perform it's very temporary. When you win you get a trophy. But this is lasting. This could be passed down to future generations. And I thought that was much more important, that we could make a better life for more people this way.

When people ask me about the 70s and they ask me what's the one word that comes mind, I go "tired". I was going on about 4 hours of sleep a night. We had a lot of meetings in 71 and 72 to try and get the WTA started. A lot of things were happening. And a lot of people were happy with us, a lot of people were unhappy with us. The media was being tough, they labeled us as "crazy" because we were women. I used to say "if I were Jimmy Connors doing this you'd just say he's just trying to create opportunities as a business guy." No one ever perceives me as a business person. It's very interesting. Yet if I were a guy, they would. It's just all these things you have to deal with. But it's fun.

I wanted to start matching up the hearts and minds of people with Title IX. That was 72 and I played Bobby in 73. And tennis exploded after we played, participation wise. It became the 8th most popular sport in the country. And, the men's tour by the way, which people always forget about, got their first big television contract and the women's tour got their first big contract, in 1974 and that's because of that match. So that was a great springboard to helping our sport not only here but worldwide. People have no idea. The men never talk about it because they don't like to. It really helped the men's tour a lot, the tennis went way up and women's tennis went way up right after that match. So I'm glad I played him. I didn't want to play him. He followed me around for three years and then he beat Margaret Court so then I had to play him. So I always thanked him. Men who are in their 40s and 50s now come up to me and tell me that match changed their whole philosophy, the way they brought up their daughters.

Muchos gracias to Billie and the OG9. Without them, what ever would I spend my time snarking about?

The besties are back in action in Seoul. Here's the draw, which is headlined by Nads. Vania and Shveddy are also in the doubles draw. Tashkent is also a thing and, not that Lexi doesn't already know this, Chakky's there.

As for the boys, Marin heads up the field in Metz, which is almost entirely comprised of Team Step Up 3D. And the tour dirtballers try to pick up some cash in Bucharest.

To put it in J-Mac's terms, my frail little fingers just couldn't blog after my grueling tennis journey to adequately put my thoughts into words. Don't worry, John. I learned my lesson. I'll just avoid the road next time and blog from the kitchen.

But getting back to his comments, I suppose I could summarize my thoughts thusly: Huh?

So women just can't take the physicality and emotional tax of the current game. They're just injured all the time and that's because they're weak. Let's not even get into the fact that this is John McEnroe, king of emotional meltdowns, saying that women having an emotional breakdown of the court signals some mental weakness and inability to cope with the stress of the game. Not that we should be shocked. Who couldn't roll their eyes when he kept bringing up Vera's penchant for emotional meltdowns as being a signal of weakness in her game throughout her USO run.

Look, I don't disagree that the current schedule is pretty rough on players. Has it led to more injuries? Probably. But that's not the point J-Mac's making. If it was then this would have been a non-story. The point he went out of his way to make is that women, as opposed to men, can't take it. Our bodies are just too frail, our minds just so full of...nothing. We just aren't strong enough to handle the rigors of this game.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. But let's look at some facts, shall we? Serena cut her foot in a bar brawl, Justine is out for the year because she fell down on the court, Vika bonked her head in a freak sprinting accident and had to retire from the USO. None of these players were injured due to a physical breakdown over the course of a long and grueling season. The same can't be said about the top men's players who had to skip the Open due to injuries (Delpo, Jo, Gonzo, to name a few).

Do I think the season is too long? Duh. The game is absolutely more physical today than it was 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago. It's obvious that players' bodies are breaking down at a rate that probably wasn't happening in the past. But it's more physical for both tours and J-Mac's singling out of the women was not only insulting, it was just plain wrong. Are we really going to ignore Rafa's knees, Nole's lungs, Delpo's wrist, Jo's knees, Lleyton's hip, or Gonzo's knee when we talk about how the women can't seem to take the grind?

For every Dinara's back we have a Delpo wrist. For every Masha's shoulder we have Rafa's knees. It's equal on both sides. The game is indeed more physical, more grueling, and more punishing. And it affects everyone equally. I don't think I'm making any huge logical leaps here.

I mean, how could I? My brain is just not strong enough.

The onus is on the players to craft their schedule. Obviously the top players have more freedom to do so. They can focus on the big tournaments and not play day in and day out because they're not playing to put food on the table. The lower ranked you are the more you have to be concerned about playing to pick up paychecks.

So if Caroline wants to play 25 tournaments a year and she can handle it (which, by all metrics so far, she can), then let her. It's not the WTA's responsibility to say "No, no, no, honey. Your cute little 20 year old body can't take that. We know better than you. We're going to force you to scale it back." In the same vein, if Sam hurts her arm, realizes she's already played more matches in 2010 than she had in 2009, and wants to skip two mandatory tournaments to take a nap in Tampa, let her. If JJ sprains her ankle and chooses to play on it despite the fact that it's still hampering her, that's her perogative.

The point is that all players are different. They are individuals with different concerns, different needs, different physiologies, and different approaches to their career. Painting them all as "weak women" seems a bit on the wrong side of things. If you want to say "X" player should scale down their schedule because their body doesn't seem to be handling that amount of match play, then I suppose I wouldn't have a problem with that (assuming you had some facts to back it up). But lumping them all in a bucket? Generalize and stereotype at your peril.

I'm not naive. I know there are lots of behind the scenes considerations that drive a player's schedule. I know the top players can get a lot of pressure to play tournaments they wouldn't typically play because the tour needs to deliver a marquee player to an event. But as far as I know, the players can still say no. If I'm wrong on that then whoops.

All this is to say that I have a healthy dose of skepticism whenever some dude comes in, no matter what his name is, and advocates some sort of ceiling on their productivity or capabilities, based on his own personal biases that are not grounded in fact. Let the women play. And if they're too weak to deal with it the data will show that. But it hasn't.

September 19, 2010

Many congrats to Jarmila Groth, who clinched her first title in Guangzhou and will crack the Top 50 for the first time of her career. She's had a great summer, reaching the round of 16 at both RG and Wimbledon (whichismorethanIcansayforSambutwhateverI'moverit) and had a pretty dominant tournament, dropping only 10 games on the way to the final and firing 11 aces against Alla to win.

Her reward? A vase for her flowers and a first round match against Nadia in Seoul. Ouch.

And Tamira beat Bethanie to capture her second title in Quebec City. I'm really bummed for Bethanie. She's just such a tour stalwart and she had a heartbreaking USO. Would have loved to see her pick up a title here.

September 15, 2010

Man, I thought after the JJ/Dinara at #1 debacles of 2009 everyone would understand how tennis rankings work. But I guess with the Slam season over and ensuing tennis lull beginning, it's that time of the year for beating up on easy targets in order to bolster your big name favorites.

My Google Reader is inundated with stories with headlines that can only be summarized as follows:

"ZOMG, YOU GUYYYYYZZZ! KIM WON AND DROPPED IN THE RANKINGS BUT TEARSY CRYERSOVA JUMPED UP AND IS NOW RANKED HIGHER?!?!?! WTF!!!!!!"

Even Tennis Channel's Court Report, which could have reported on anything in its 30 second spot, decided to ZOMG Vera's ranking.

I can sit silent on the couch in my pajamas eating cold dim sum delivery watching Bones reruns no longer.

365 days. That's what the rankings measure. Your performance over the past 365 days. Not your 2010, not your last 10 years, and certainly not the public's perception of your tennis prowess. Now I'm sure that last point is really what gets into people's pants. "BUT THE RANKINGS DON'T REFLECT HOW I RANK THESE PLAYERS IN MY HEAD!!!" Well, I don't know what to tell you there, fair-weather fan. But if you actually paid attention to these players and to this sport on a weekly or daily basis, you'd see that the rankings are precisely right.

Has Kim had a better 2010 than Vera? Yes. How do we know that? Because the Race points say so. The Race points, which measure performance FOR THE SEASON, put Kim one spot ahead of Vera.

Has Kim had a better last 365 days than Vera? Not based on points. Kim won the 2009 USO and didn't play again. Vera kept playing through the fall season and picked up some points. Not a whole lot of points, but enough to put her ahead of Kim.

How does this confuse people? How does it cause hand wringing and hair pulling? I seriously don't get it. If Kim takes the rest of the year off and Vera fails to defend her points and falls behind Kim, are we going to see a bevy of "KIM IS SITTING ON THE COUCH EATING BON BONS YET SOMEHOW JUMPED A SPOT IN THE RANKINGS!!!!" articles? Doubtful.

If anything, given Kim's year, it's impressive she's as high as she is. She won Brisbane, Miami, Cincy, and the USO, sure, all fantastic and amazing performances in big tourneys. But she also got dumped from AO, IW, and Wimby, and she completely skipped the clay season, including RG. She's quickly falling into that Serena category: A player who can dominate any time she shows up, but you don't know (1) if she'll show up and (2) whether she'll bring her A game or F game.

So here's my question for everyone: Everyone likes to take a piss at the rankings system. But it's way easier to tear something down rather than offer solutions. So what's the alternative? Give more point weight to the Slams? Stop rewarding the tour stalwarts who clock in and out each and every week so that a tour even exists? Force the Serena and Kims to play more so that their rankings are more "true"? Add a qualitative element like the college football polling system? Or will the rankings system, no matter what, always be the source of easy jokes?

Weigh in in the comments. I'm genuinely curious to hear some proposals. And if you can't think of a viable proposal, maybe it's time to put down the haterade.

September 13, 2010

Lost in all the shuffle with the men's final, the ladies dubs final had to be suspended with Vania King serving in the third set at 4-5, 0-15. In other words, King/Shvedova are 3 points from losing. That's a tough spot. The match will resume at 4pm EST on Armstrong.

Nice to see Nadia anticipated the rain and brought her wetsuit, though. Always prepared, that one. Except...not really.

September 07, 2010

If you missed it, check out this set of photos from Vanity Fair with our favorite "under the radar" ATP and WTAers. I think they did a great job, Sveta's Ed Hardy shirt notwithstanding. And boy, Sam, talk about a corgi-in-the-headlights look.

August 24, 2010

Well, that was crazy stressful. After demolishing Errani in the first set 61, Sam got all wonky in the second set, though Errani's improved play definitely played a part in that. She was taking her returns early to try and mitigate the kick serve and it was working. Errani wasn't doing anything particularly impressive other that, but she was running down balls and making Sam hit that extra ball, which she was. Into the net. It was a thoroughly frustrating set to watch and it even elicited a loud "HIT THE BALLLLL!!!" from Sam after she sent a poorly executed (and unnecessary) forehand slice long.

And so it was on to the third set, where for whatever reason, Sara was holding easily and Sam was finding herself needing to dig out of deuce games and break points. Sara was finally able to break and served for the match at 5-4. And boy, did she feel it.

Up 40-15, she started sending in 65mph puffball first serves into Sam's forehand and Sam stepped up, hitting out on some returns and taking immediate control of the points. She ended up saving 4 match points in that game (with Sara DFing on one of them) and finally broke to even the match, eventually pulling it out, 7-4 in the tiebreaker. After the match she said that she thought Sara played really well and made her work but agreed that she may have been a bit rusty from her break.

The good news? Well in addition to living to fight on another day against the winner of Nads/Bethanie, she says her arm feels perfect. She hadn't hit more than 30 serves in any of her practices leading up to today and given the cold conditions she didn't know how it would turn out.

August 22, 2010

Play in both New Haven and Montreal has been rained out today. They will attempt to play the semis simultaneously tomorrow at 10am and then the final at 1pm. That's a damn rough schedule. Oh, and Pavs has withdrawn from New Haven citing hydrophobia, or as the WTA calls it, a right hip injury. So no Believe vs. Pavs match. Boo face. Mardy Fish has also withdrawn from New Haven. Not so much boo face for me, but boo face for the tournament.

I'm going to head home for the day, primarily because there are probably more tennis players at my hotel than are on the grounds right now. Also, my bed is significantly warmer than this media room.

I was warned to bring a parka. I should have listened. I never listen.

So I was chilling in the hotel lobby last night when the valet wheeled in a cart full of luggage. Typically not a big deal, right? Well this cart just happen to have a large red Babolat bag and a red Lacoste bag.

ZOMG! So as I reach into bag to grab my lipgloss (ok, actually it's just chapstick) and perfume and try to control my racing pulse, I look up to see none other than...Elena Vesnina.

Sam's on to my game, guys. She's got decoys everywhere. It's like the Thomas Crown Affair up in this bitch.

But I remember thinking it was rather odd that Elena was just checking in her bags. Earlier that day she had played not one but two qualifying matches in her attempt to get entry into the main draw of a tournament at which she was a finalist last year. In fact, her week at New Haven last year was the week of her career. She beat Gisela, Sam, Chakky, and Momes on her way to the final where she lost to Caro. Rough that she couldn't get a wild card.

Blame Ana. Or Dinara. Or Sam. Or Nads. Someone.

So here's the explanation from her presser: Vezzie took the week off of singles last week to rest a slight injury she picked up in Cincy and decided to just play doubles in Montreal. Well, they lost in the semifinals on Friday. With qualies in New Haven on Saturday, here's what she did: She woke up at the buttcrack of dawn, took the first flight out of Montreal to New York, drove from New York straight to the New Haven grounds (about 1.5 hours) in order to get to her NOON qualifying match against Carly Gullickson. She played that three setter and won, fighting off two match points in the process. The tournament gave her two hours to rest before she was up against for a SECOND qualifying match against Bojangles, which she won in straight sets. She got an ice massage, checked into the hotel, got some rest, and then played her third qualifying match today, which was moved indoors, against Roberta Vinci. She won 64 36 63 in over two hours.

The ladies rocked the runway in Montreal and didn't look completely ridiculous. I mean, that's quite a feat if you've ever seen the runway shows they do at some other tourneys. But Montreal usually gets this part right.

Oh, what's that? You want to see what the players wore to the party? Click here.

And bring some popcorn. And a sweater. Because apparently it's cold. Or so Sveta's attire tells me.

August 21, 2010

New Haven, Connecticut. I had never been and I always wanted to check out the Yale campus. So sure, why not? Especially when my favorite tennis players were scheduled to show up at the last USO warm-up tournament, the James Blake Open. Well, they try to maintain a veneer of impartiality so they call it the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but I can't snark too hard. Pilot G-2s have been my pen of choice for the past 15 years. No really. I still have a ziplock bag of all the stuff I took with me into the California Bar Examination. It includes 2 completely empty Pilot G-2 .05s in blue.

I'm a bit particular about my writing instruments.

Where was I? Oh yes. New Haven.

So how does one get from Mason, Ohio to New Haven, Connecticut? Well, if one is trying to do it on the cheap, one takes a cab from Mason to Dayton, takes a flight to Detroit, gets lost in conversation with a friend, sprints 20 gates to barely make a connecting flight, stew in one's own sweat for an hour and a half, lands at JFK in New York, takes the subway to Grand Central Station while watching a fellow subway rider do pull-ups between stations, races onto a crowded train to New Haven, stands for an hour and 40 minutes while desperately trying to track Rafa's match via Twitter, gets off at New Haven Union Station, waits for a trolley that never comes, and finally hops into a cab that charges $10 for a .9 mile ride to downtown New Haven.

It was a long day. I dropped my shit off in my room and headed straight for the hotel bar. But 2 hours and three drinks later, I was good as new.

The town of New Haven is, to put it kindly, rather sketch. Lots of loitering, lots of police cars and sirens, and lots of darkness at night. I get a bit nervous when there isn't ample street lighting. But I'm not here to go all Rick Steves on New Haven. I'm here to watch some tennis. And that's what I did yesterday.

After a tournament shuttle ride with the Sisters Bondarenko and Shuai Peng (K-Bond likes her Sudoku, btw), I made it to the grounds just in time to see Pico pull out a win in his first qualie match. The side courts here are fantastic. The bleachers are close to the court and which makes it very easy to take pictures and hear the players and the coaches.

I also watched Sorana destroy Alla in the first set, only to blow three match points and lose the match in an 8-6 tiebreak. She's a frustrating one to watch these days. She has the weapons but lacks the consistency, and I'm not entirely sold on her tactics at the moment. In addition, she wasn't serving particularly well, making it very difficult to hold her serve. I stood right next to her coach, who had an amazing Burberry popped collar and was Vamosing like a motherfucker. the kid was pretty sad after the match.

Oh, and Alla's on court demeanor blows. But whatever floats her boat, I guess.

Unfortunately, the practice courts are tarped off, making practice court viewing (my favorite tourney pastime) really difficult. It's better than San Diego, where they had double tarps making it impossible to watch unless you literally smushed your face up against the fence, but still not ideal. Kind of a bummer but I'm sure I'll find a way to get my Sam practice fix as the week goes on.

The grounds themselves are great. Small enough to get around fairly easily, though the main stadium is fairly large, so it's a pain to walk around. Obviously yesterday was qualies only so the crowd was pretty small. I'll be interested to see how things progress as the week goes on.

Blah is a huge part of this tournament, like it or not. He gave a pre-tourney presser today, his mom is signing autographs, there are J-Block shirts for sale, he's at every promotional event, and I heard more people were watching him practice than were watching any of the qualie matches. He's the hometown boy so it's expected. But that doesn't mean I don't scratch my head.

I mean, he's Blah.

Sunday is All Access Hour for the WTA, but because Caro is still playing in Montreal and Elena has her first round match, it will just be Sam and Fran. Fine by me. I love them both and can't wait to talk to them. Assuming that I sack up and actually say words out loud. Which...is a 50/50 proposition.

So there you go. An unnecessarily long, rambling post about New Haven. It goes best with tequila.

You'll have to excuse my indignant and astonished Californian self. See, for us, there simply is no concept of rain during the summer. It's weird. So here we are in August and it seems like rain is consistently wreaking havoc on tennis. The Canadian and Cincy championship weekends have all been wet affairs leading to a number of "what if" results. What if it hadn't rained? Would A-Rod be in the Cincy final? Would Masha have hoisted the trophy in Cincy? Would Fed have solidified himself as the front runner by winning Toronto? I know weather delays are part of the sport but sometimes they run against the notion of a "pure" result.

And so it continues in Montreal. Saturday's semifinals were essentially rained out so the ladies will have to (or try, as it may be) to play both the semis and finals on Sunday. And it looks like we're going to get some rain up here in New Haven this week.

I didn't bring my galoshes. Because I thought I was going to a tennis tournament. Not Glastonbury.

August 12, 2010

The court conditions were tough today folks, with on-court thermometers hitting the 120F mark. But you know what they say, the conditions are the same for everyone and everyone's gotta deal. JJ, the top seed at her second straight tournament, got bounced in straight sets by Akgul, denying us a JJ/Ana quarterfinal. I know that Akgul's big server, but this is a match that you expect JJ to win, using her movement and strokes to grind down her slower opponent in the blazing heat. But I guess Cincy is to Akgul as California is to Dani. She just seems to find some mojo there. The last time a qualifier made the quarters in Cincy? 2007. And yes, it was Akgul. Which means she's building quite the fan base:

A more respectable loss for Caro, losing to Mono in straights in her first tournament in the US after her run to the title in Copenhagen last week. Word on the street is that Caro's beefed up her serve. That's nice to hear, but once again she plays a match that shows that she, just like JJ and Aga, can be hit through. If the field wasn't quivering in their shoes at the thought of playing these counterpunchers before, they definitely aren't quivering now.

It'll be interesting to see how these two rebound in Montreal. Oh, and in a stroke of comedy, they'll swap places heading into to Montreal. That's right, Caro's back to #2.

FeVer and Sam Q were the surprise losers of the day. Fer had to get some medical attention on his ass in the third set. You think I'm making a joke, but I'm really not. There was a whole lot of ass massaging going on.

Bepa somehow survived MaKiri, who was 5-2 up in the third set before a rain delay. And Kim returned just in time to send Dinara plummeting in the rankings with her back somehow intact. She'll head into Montreal no highter than #70. Le sigh.

August 10, 2010

While the Besties enjoyed their winning day, my sausage stable took a hit in Toronto, as Gilles, Richie, and Feli all got bounced in the first round of a wet Rogers Cup. Between those three and Rafole losing, clearly God, who is a woman, cried at the lack of hotness.

As for the ladies, the Bestie success overshadowed some unfortunate results. Bojangles upset WeatherVane, which theoretically opens up JJ's quarter even more than it already was. And in not surprising but kinda bummer news, Sabine and Kimiko-Tan are out.

August 09, 2010

My good buddy Bobby Chintapalli (we're giving DinAna a run for the Besties Crown) is in Cincy this week walking the grounds for Tennis.com. You can follow her on Twitter (@bobbychin) and be sure to check out her dispatches from the grounds. It's like being perched atop that pathetic Cubs hat she insists on sporting.

The shit gets real this week as the USO Series gets two top level mandatory events for the men and women. The top ladies, sans Serena (foot), Venus (knee), and Sam (forecep) are in Cincy and my big question is whether Vika and Masha can back up their form and results from Stanford. They both took last week off.

As for JJ, THE NUMBER TWO PLAYER IN THE WORLD (it's on her business cards), she'll get a chance to rebound from her loss to Kleybs in the second round of San Diego. She blamed the loss on her injured ankle, which she said she couldn't practice on at SD, but she's been on the courts in Cincy. So...I'm assuming it's better? I guess we'll get the definitive answer if she loses, which she shouldn't, seeing as how she's got two qualifiers in the first two rounds. Then again, if I'm one of those qualifiers, I'm smelling blood.

Cincy also sees Kim returning to action. I mean, who knows how that's going to turn out. And Aga will be playing her third tourney in three weeks. I get that she's fit now and everything, but she was fiddling with her foot throughout yesterday's final.

As for the dudes, we've got a sausage smorgasbord in Toronto, as all the top guys are in action. So far, the story has been Rafa and Nole playing dubs together, starting tonight, but apart from that piece of marketing genius it feels like a whole lot of "wait and see". Rafa and Roger are on opposite sides of the draw and can't meet until the finals but each of the top four will have some work to do to get there. Ok, maybe not Nole. His draw is pretty cake. He just has to survive himself.

Rafa's got A-Rod is his quarter (and Sam Q in his 1/8), Moose has Sodz (who, incidentally, could move up to #4 depending on how those two do here), Fed has Big Berd, and Nole has the Broken Playstation.

August 07, 2010

Despite the fact that my stable of Ana, Dinara, and Sam kind of crashed and burned, this tournament is shaping up nicely as we hit Championship weekend. Sure, it's not so much a "casual fan" tourney so much as a "tennis nerd" tourney, but hey, I'm a tennis nerd. This will do.

Along with Flavia we have Dani (whee!), who's beaten Mono and Kleybs to make it, Sveta, who, while shaky, still managed to come through and make her first semi of the year (crazy!), and Aga, who has clearly been zoning for the past two weeks, demolishing Shahar under the lights last night.

This isn't a horrible group of four. I'm genuinely ok with any of them winning.

August 06, 2010

Since I skipped tonight's night session, which saw Bepa get upset by Coco Vandeweghe (or "Coq au Vin", as Katie was calling her), I finally have time to sit down, somewhat sober, and give you the deets on the last three days in San Diego. It's been a blast.

Apparently some of the players are staying with host families instead of at La Costa. How do I know this? I was watching MaZheng doubles and there was one older woman in the crowd cheering heartily for MaKiri. After the match, she went down to the court and was talking to Maria as she was signing autographs, and they were clearly talking about what time she'd be done, what time they should pick her up, what she wanted for dinner, etc. I talked to Victoria and she said she had heard the same thing re Nads. I thought that was kind of funny and sweet. This morning we sat directly behind the MaKiri camp for her match against Flavs. The lady was there again.

There's a small strip mall about half a mile from La Costa and, as Sveta
showed the other day, the players have no problem putting on their flip
flops and walking there to pick up groceries and coffee.

It sure is nice being one of the top two seeds. Sam was the top seed last week, played one match on Wednesday and then didn't have to play again until Friday. Same thing this week. I was worried for a while that she was going to be playing four straight weeks, but given the bye system, it really isn't too bad. One match and you're in the quarters. Plenty of time to rest and recuperate before the heart of the tournament kicks off. Then again, you don't have any time to play yourself into the tournament. See e.g., JJ.

Aside from one ridiculously rude volunteer on the first day, everyone has been really nice. It's been quite easy to strike up conversations with the people sitting around you, ushers, and tournament staff. That's always nice.

I found out yesterday that you can basically wander around the entire resort. Not sure why it didn't occur to me earlier. I suppose I thought with the players staying on site there would be more security and certain areas of the resort would be roped off. But no.

My favorite place to escape from the heat and noise of the tournament is a set of benches in front of the La Costa Spa, which is right at the entrance of the resort. It's a great place to relax by a fountain, check emails and Twitter, chat, and just zone out and decompress. Bonus: you see a ton of players just milling about. Yesterday we saw Sneki go to the spa, Domi in black bootie shorts, Pam in her bathing suit wheeling her kid in a stroller, Craig Kardon, and Team Stosur go for a walk to the supermarket, come back with a bag of goods, and then make a coffee run.

I would love to get some insight into how tournaments schedule matches. Today is Quarterfinal Friday. Of all the matches they decide to put in the night session (Stosur/Pennetta, Kleybs/Dani, Sveta/Coco), they decide to put Aga/Peer on. I mean, really? What's the reasoning here? Is it because they presume that no one wants to spend their Friday night watching tennis? Do they not want to hose their top seed (Sam) by putting her on a late night match when she'll have to turn around and play a day match on Saturday? Those are fine reasons. I just really want to know. It seems to me there are legitimate reasons to showcase the other three matches. Not so much Aga/Peer. And mind you, ESPN is carrying the night match. Huh?

Zeljko smokes. And walks around his hotel room in nothing but a towel. Don't ask me how I know this.

The tournament has no water fountains on site, yet they charge $5 for a small bottle of water. Are you kidding me?

I do feel a little bad for the players who stay on site. Sure, the resort is ridiculously nice. But no matter where you are on the resort you can hear the umpire call out scores. Sucks for those who are trying to hit the hay at 10pm to get ready for their early matches.

Saw MJ hitting with her kids. Cute.

One of the running jokes of the week has been watching MaKiri and Zheng play doubles and wondering how the heck they communicate with each other. Like, they don't just slap hands and exchange a few words. They have full on conversations at the baseline before every point. We want to mic them up.

The practice court situation still annoys me. I would understand if they're doing it to give the players privacy. But if that's not the reason, then why? It really takes away from the fan experience. Tournament directors need to understand this.

I think Sveta has a crush on Dani's coach. We've seen her horsing around with him quite a bit, trying to jump on his back and teasing him and shit. Not that I blame her. He's a hottie.

The Bondos carry their dog with them everywhere. Literally. I'm not sure that dog's feet have ever touched the ground.

I am very curious as to how this tournament will look on TV. The stands have been pretty empty and if I understand the camera layout, ESPN/TTC will be shooting from the south section, which has actually been pretty crowded, into the north section, which is the VIP section, which has been empty. Not a great look.

I will never understand people who bring babies to tennis tournaments.

Gisela Dulko is an Octagon client. Octagon is running this tournament. They gave her a wildcard. She retired 60 30 to Vandeweghe and lost in the first round of dubs with Flavia. Nice.

The more I think of it the more I feel bad for Believe. She goes from empty press rooms and being unrecognized in Europe, to being hounded by fans and media in the States. I walked past her a couple of times by the players lounge and fans were just all over her. There was a lot of "I saw you at the US Open!" She handled it like any normal American teenager would: She smiled, said thank you, and looked a bit freaked, and was at a loss on how to respond.

Steph and I were taking a breather in the food area when Flavia walked through. I impulsively yelled out "Good luck, Flavia!" and she said thanks and shot me the biggest smile ever. Love her.

There are some players who, even if you don't know them or recognize them, if you saw them you'd know they were a professional athlete. Yanina Wickmayer is one of those people. That girl is built like a jock and she walks like one, too.

Saw Stubbsy filming a Bag Check.

After we watched Dani beat Mono, Steph and I left the site and started walking to our car, which was parked in like, the farthest possible corner of the resort. As we were walking in the dark, we look up and see someone jogging towards us. It was Dani. Jogging. On gravel. In the parking lot. In virtually pitch black conditions. I know it's Carlsbad, Dani, but that's not safe. We said good match and she said thanks.

Aunt Pimmy was in full effect last night as she MC'd an auction. We stood there and watched for about 10 minutes and were doubled over. "Next is an autographed guitar from The Eagles. It's autographed by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and...the rest of them." "Do I hear $1500? Anyone? [silence] $1600?" Me: "Wait, no one's bidding and she's going up? I don't think that's how it works."

Conchita Martinez is *everywhere*.

Ok, yes, I know Sam's room number. It was entirely unintentional. I was walking from center court to my little chill out spot by the spa, which takes me past the players' lounge. Team Stosur was eating. Ok, whatever. So I go hang out at my spot for a while and decide to head back to watch Dani's match. As I'm doing so, I see Sam walking toward me. As is my wont, I literally ran away, making a hard left turn when she was like, 10 feet from me. I kept walking, looked over my shoulder, and saw her go into her room. So yeah, that's information I have that I plan to do nothing with. Seriously, it's an entirely different dynamic when the players stay on site. Sometimes it's cool, and sometimes it's kind of creepy. You'd really think there'd be more security. I mean, what if Masha or Serena were staying here? I have to think it would be different. Fans really shouldn't be able to get this info.

Sveta has this crazy sweater that she bought in Dubai. She loves it so much she has it in three different colors. And she's always wearing it around.

Overheard yesterday: "Who is that?" "Vera Zvonareva. She made the finals of Wimbledon." "Oh. Wait, is that the girl who cries all the time?" "Well...not all the time."

August 04, 2010

MaKiri had herself quite the day, kicking off the morning with some practice with Kimiko, then spending almost three hours on court to win her singles match over a qualifier, and capping it all off with a super-tiebreak win in doubles, teaming up with Jay-Z to form what is hands-down the most adorable doubles team ever.

August 02, 2010

It's 2pm, I'm on the couch in my pajamas staring at a pile of toasty laundry trying decide what I need to pack for my week-long sojourn to San Diego. It's stressing me out already.

But then I remembered I can keep procrastinating by summarizing my last three days covering Stanford. It was a blast.

If you can only go to a tournament for one day, you could do worse than shelling out the cash for a ticket to Quarterfinal Friday. Especially this year at Stanford where, for the most part, you had the top eight seeds into the quarters. Putting the Aga/MaKiri match aside (a bagel? really?) we had some fantastic matches that day. All three setters, all tightly contested. In fact, it got too much for me. I finally took off my media badge during Sam's match and let out a few choice "C'mon, Sams" from the upper deck. Sometimes you just got to let a little pressure out to keep the bottle from exploding. I wasn't proud of it.

I spent a bit of the day trying to help my new friend from Seattle, Meghan, get her picture with Sam. While Sam was warming up for her match I gave Meghan the rundown of where she'd be after the match (the track), where best to stop her for a picture (while she's walking from the track to the locker room), and where to get her autograph (when she's leaving the site from the player exit). Meghan, bless her, almost chickened out on the Sam photo-op. But I finally had to step in. "Sam! Can we get a picture over here?" I yelled as I literally shoved Meghan into her. Sam smiled, stopped, did a "Where are we looking? Where are we looking?" (which is much funnier if you see me imitate it) said thanks, and continued on to the locker room for a shower and then press. Well done, Meghan. That picture came out awesome.

The blockbuster match on Friday was Maria/Elena, which brought in a solid crowd for a Friday night. There was much oohing and ahhing as both ladies put on a hitting clinic. Not so much a serving clinic.

I have a feeling Maria doesn't shower on site. She's usually ready for press 30 minutes after the match, which, with cooldown and showering and stuff, is pretty quick. I think she cools down, changes out of her kit, and then leaves the site. Random tidbit, I know.

Sam's dad Tony is really nice. He was meandering around the player entrance because he forgot his badge and had to wait for Sam and the team to get back. He was happily talking to anyone and everyone. The Corgi tendencies don't come from him.

I haven't asked many questions in the pressers. Not because I'm shy but because I don't want to be part of the story or inject myself into the narrative. I'm not am not, nor do I plan to be, the Perez Hilton of tennis. The questions I have asked have been pretty inane and harmless. But I found myself at times, particularly during Ana, Sam, or Maria pressers, thinking of questions that were totally relevant from a journalist's perspective, but I could not, as a fan of those players, bring myself to ask them. I don't want to heap more pressure on them, make them think about something negative that they've never even considered, force them to justify their decisions, etc. I mean, could you ask your favorite player "Wow. Played like crap out there. What happened?" I thought I could but when it came down to it, I just didn't want to hurt their feelings. I leave that to the professionals who do this for a living and are paid to put aside any attachment to the players. And credit to them. Because if it were just a bunch of fankids in the press room, all we'd end up doing is play Scrabble with the players and drink hot coco. Not exactly hard-hitting news, there.

Got to watch some of the national playoffs as well. Quite a stark contrast to some of the glamour you see with the top players, these were women of different ages and backgrounds slugging away on a far court trying to win a wildcard into the US Open qualies. I mean, can you even imagine that kind of pressure? Tennis Channel was here covering the event and they'll be putting together a one-hour documentary on the players and the process, which will air closer to the Open. Check it out.

I never watch doubles on TV but I love watching it live. Really fun stuff.

I do have to give a lot of credit to the journos in the media center. I know from a fan perspective it can be frustrating sometimes to read pressers and think "why wasn't this question asked?" or "really? we're going to ask that question again?" or "why is this presser so short?" But seriously, if you see these players every single day and you have to ask them questions, it's really quite difficult. After the obligatory 2 minutes of "So what happened out there?" you're kind of at a loss. But the pros know what they're doing and one of the things I was really impressed/happy to see is that for the most part, the pressers ended on a light note. Whether it was asking Sam about surfing or Vika about whether she plans on having a beer on her birthday, it was a skilled way to end things positively and lighten the mood. I could tell that the players appreciated it.

Did I mention that Cari Champion is impossibly nice? It really really pisses me off.

It's alternately embarrassing and really cool to hear that people in the ATP/WTA read Forty Deuce. And don't want to shiv me.

The highlight of the last three days was sitting in on Billie Jean King's press conference on Saturday. She talked about the formation of the WTA (she remembers laying down the courts here at Stanford 40 years ago), going through the 70's on four hours of sleep nightly, why she let her tennis career suffer in order to help set up the tour, and the importance of Title IX. It was amazing to listen to her speak and realize that this sport that we love and these players that we love, these opportunities area all because of her. I'll write more on this later.

A few people have emailed me this. As far as I know, it wasn't me (I've never emailed Doug Robson). But I do have some thoughts on this but I need to pack for a weeklong trip in 15 minutes. So I'll do a separate post on it.

One thing that became clear to me this week is how little tennis people know about the rabid tennis underground that exists on blogs and Twitter. I hope that changes.

Never underestimate the impact of a late night match/day match turnaround. Hell, I was just blogging the thing and by the time I woke up at 10:30am on Sunday to get to the final at noon, the fatigue of the week hit me like a ton of bricks. Sure, these are professional athletes and they should be prepared. But they're also human beings. It's tough, is all I'm saying.

Vika's ability to use her cell phone to stave off fans is pretty impressive.

And that's all she wrote for now. It was a really fun week and it was privilege to be there. I did my best to stay out of everyone's way and I think I succeeded. I hope that everyone enjoyed the coverage and I did the tennis fan/blogosphere proud. Hopefully tournaments will come to see the value that we add and come to a better understanding of what this new breed of tennis fans want.

If the ladies singles final was a bit of a snoozer, the doubles final more than made up for it. DavenBer eventually pulled it out in a tight super-tiebreak, 75 67 10-8, but it was a really entertaining match to watch. You'd think Zheng/Chan would have a tough time getting the ball past the tall American ladies, but they were lobbing like mofos. It was hilarious.

Congrats on the comeback, Lindsay. As for you, Liezel, well, I don't understand you and I dare say I'm going to stop trying. She was playing with some kids yesterday and hit a kick serve at a poor 10 year old girl. Even Lindsay called her out: "A kick serve? Really, Liezel?"

July 31, 2010

The ball kids here at Stanford really take their jobs seriously. But that doesn't mean they don't notice what goes on on-court. Chris Oddo interviewed some ball kids this week. His results kind of surprised me.

I guess Ana wasn't here long enough to make an impression. She *always* wins these things.

July 30, 2010

MaKiri and Aga are taking the court as Quarterfinal Friday kicks off here in sunny ol' Stanford. The weather here, barring that first super chilly night, has been perfect. I haven't even needed a heavy sweatshirt at night. Then again, I run warm. Some might say "I'm hotter than you."

Fuck! Did I just make a Jacob joke?

I got the grounds at around noon and missed Sam practicing in the morning. The woman is an early bird which is why it would never work out between us. It was for the best. I've been so in her jock our cycles are syncing up.

It was a less than stellar day for Shahar. She dropped her singles match to MaKiri in straight sets and then lost her dubs match to Vika/MaKiri later in the afternoon. She was peeeesed by the end of the super-tiebreak, letting out a huge scream and pounding a ball high in the sky.

Govortsova has a bigger serve than I remember. Also, do all Belarussians have the same body type? Because if you didn't know any better, you could easily mistake Vika for Olga from behind.

I got some good Twitter questions for MaKiri, but totally flubbed them because for whatever reason, I reverted into deposition mode. Short leading questions with quick follow-ups to nail down factual details before the witness can think about it. I really really hate my lawyer training.

Vika was a bit snippy on court and I can't think she's currying much favor with the ball kids. In case you were unaware, she only takes the balls from the left. And yes, she will pause for a good 20 seconds between points just waiting for the balls to get to that ball kid. The poor young ball kid standing on the right was utterly confused. "Give to her, give to her." He just stared back blankly.

Believe gave a great presser and I was glad that I stuck around for it. She's your typical American teenager and she's willing to talk about anything. I don't get the sense that she's been through a lot of media training. I was also surprised as to how adeptly she spoke of the technical and tactical aspects of the game. All that said, I suspect her pressers are much more entertaining when she loses than when she wins. She's probably all sunshine and believing when she wins.

No matter how many times I attend a tournament I always get a bit shell-shocked around the quarterfinals. For the past five days I've been most excited about running around the grounds, watching practice sessions, seeing players on the track, etc. But each day ticks by the field gets smaller and smaller. The practice courts get quieter and players leave town. But as that happens, the actual matches being played get more interesting. I have to actively switch my mentality to leave the practice courts alone and settle into the live tennis. It takes effort.

I was watching Ana practice when a volunteer sidled up to me and started gushing over her. Apparently he accompanied her to her hospital visit and said she was one of the nicest people he had ever met and that she chatted with him quite a bit in the car. "Hold old is she?" "Uh, 22? "REALLY??? [pause] Does she have a boyfriend?" "Yeah. He's a golfer. Adam Scott. Australian." "Oh. Is he here?" "No, he's probably...golfing somewhere." "Free game." "Good luck with that."

Mono, once again, gives good presser. She's game to talk about anything and everything. Today's presser: Why she loves New York, the depth of the WTA tour, why she puts Venus at #2, and what she thinks of Caro, Vika, and Aga.

I've been getting a lot of messages about why there was no live stream until Friday. I guess I assume the answer is obvious but here we go: TV rights are a big deal for tournaments and the tour and if you allow early streams then it dilutes the value of the rights you're selling. For the USO series, which is handled by TC and ESPN, the tournaments are very good about locking down their feeds so as to not allow hackers to access the feed and post it to Justin TV or U Stream or whatever. But if the tournaments provide an international feed they're hosed. That shit gets hacked every damn time.

Met TC reporter Cari Champion today. She was just as annoyingly gorgeous in person, if not more so, than on TV and, to my frustration, hilarious. Told her that I fall asleep with TC on and a lot of times I'll wake up hearing her voice. Thankfully she wasn't creeped out by that. She's here with a TC team covering the US Open National Playoffs, which is an open tournament for men and women to compete for a wildcard into the USO qualifying. Pretty great, as the playoff makes it truly "Open". Met up with her again in the evening. We just sat around, drank spring water, and talked about the weather and the geopolitical implications of the BP spill. Really whole some stuff.

So now we get the quarterfinals. Aga has just bageled MaKiri to book her spot in the semis. So much for my darkhorse pick. She'll play the winner of Masha/Elena. Mono and Vika will be taking the court soon. Thankfully I was able to catch Sam during practice today. She looked great.

July 29, 2010

Everyone knows Wednesday's are the worst. They're right in the middle of the week and the one day that's furthest from the weekend. Today was no different at Stanford. It was a fairly straightforward day, with a little added drama thanks to Lena and Kimiko. But really, it was a quiet one. All the seeds came through without too much trouble and as the field gets smaller, the practice courts aren't the buzzing hotbed of activity they were over the weekend.

Despite all my seemingly extroverted rambling on the interwebz, I'm a pretty solitary person. I prefer to watch my sports, particularly when it's a game or match that really matters to me, alone. But there are moments that remind me that watching tennis with a group of like-minded, knowledgeable, funny people, can make the experience exponentially better. Yesterday was one of those times. Nick from Tennis Served Fresh and Chris (The Fan Child), who is here for On The Baseline were fantastic viewing companions. I watched both Sam's and Lena's matches with them and you know you're in good company when you're gasping, laughing, and ruefully shaking your head to the same shots.

Kimiko looked gutted in her presser. It made me sad.

An odd tidbit from the Lena match. Kimiko was serving in the second set when she hit a first serve that was clearly out, but there was no call. Elena hit it for a winner. Everyone was left staring at each other. Umpire Romero had no clue, either, which must have caused Lynn Welch, who was surely watching from the sidelines, to throw a Gatorade cooler and punch the wall. Romero then called for an "umpire's challenge", requesting Hawk-Eye to review the call. I've only seen that done one other time (rather recently, in fact. Someone help me out here). The ball was CLEARLY out by more than a few inches. It was a call that no chair umpire should miss. But Romero seemed to compound her mistake by then calling for a second serve. Am I wrong here? Shouldn't that be a let and the point replayed? I suppose if Kimiko called for the challenge, which she could have done, and the ball was called long, she would be granted a second serve. But maybe my understanding of the rules is off here. It still doesn't excuse the horrible non-call from the chair. A good minute had passed before Kimiko was able to serve again.

Interestingly, Elena came in to the press area immediately after her match, sweaty and everything. She was still luminous and spoke highly of Kimiko. She also recounted her first tour win, which here at Stanford against Venus. I've said it before and I'll say it again, she's all class.

I watched some Bethanie/Shaughnessy/Kleybs/Peer dubs. Really fun match to watch and I'm always surprised as to how much I enjoy watching doubles live. Bethanie was rocking some black knee highs this time, black shorts, and a black and white striped tank with hot pink trim. And of course, she rocked it. I love Bethanie. She owns everything about her and she's a fiery competitor. She's here with her hubby, Justin.

Saw Shazza practice in the morning. She's all business now that the tournament's begun.

Debated point during her match: Who's got a stronger base: Elena, Sveta, or Sam?

Forgot to relay this Sam anecdote from Tuesday: Sam was shagging balls during her practice and someone from the stands yelled "Go Sam!" REALLY loudly. You would have thought someone fired a shotgun next to her ear based on her reaction. She searched the crowd and finally yelled "Thanks!" I laughed. DON'T SCARE HER!

I caught a bit of Ana's practice before I had to run back to the media center to do the podcast for TSF. Marissa (@sblily) and I joked that her bandaid was a sign of solidarity for Serena. "It's like an AIDS ribbon!"

A few of you asked how crowded Sam's autograph session was. From what I can see it was well-attended, and the 6:30 signing time (right when the day session lets out and the night session starts in) probably helped. But Sam's been quite popular among the folks on the grounds, particularly the kids. She didn't get the vocal crowd support during her match with Snooki, but I suspect that's more because of the partisan American/Underdog support. But she's been getting a lot of oohs and ahhs during her practice sessions. That power will do that. Oh, and she's been fantastic off-court also. She's really wearing the top seed/top five tag well.

I was circling the grounds when I saw a tall woman walking away from the grounds, exiting the player lounge. I couldn't see her face but I recognize that white headband anywhere. Yup, Dinara's still here and she was heading to the gym across the street.

During Sam's presser an email popped up from someone in the media center. "Dare you to ask 'Are those guns legal in California?" Don't fucking tempt me...

One additional thought on Ana: In addition to her side to side agility she has been much improved on her ability to get low on her two handed backhand. If you remember her form from AO08 and RG08, she had no problem almost getting her knee to the ground when hitting her backhand and still leaning into the ball. Over the past year and half, she hasn't been doing that, instead reaching for the ball instead of getting parallel and driving off her back foot. So props on the increased strength, Team AI.

The new Nike kit that Vika and Snooki are wearing is haaaaaaaahrible. I can never tell if Vika just isn't as fit as I think she is or if Nike is hosing her with their crap. I mean, ruffles? Pink? We get it, they're women.

That's the report from Wednesday. Excited Ana tonight. Ana's got a 3-0 H2H against Marion but they haven't played since her title run in Linz in 2008. It'll be another tough flat hitter. Her newfound agility is going to get tested. No result out of this match would surprise me.

But the match that everyone in the media center is buzzing about is Vika vs. Believe. Vika's got a .702 winning percentage on hard courts, which is 6th best among active players. I think that's stat is a little misleading. It has to have been accumulated during the first half of the season, from Australia through Miami. Vika's shown a clear tendency to peter off towards the end of the season. And Believe? Well...she believes. So look out for that one.

Ok, MaKiri's just taken the first set over Shahar 6-4. Going to go roam the grounds.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Nick McCarvel of Tennis Served Fresh today. TSF was one of the first tennis blogs I started reading so I was happy to find that the people behind it are as advertised: hilarious, witty, and super knowledgable about this little yellow fuzzy ball sport we all know and love.

I will forever be in his debt for finding this. We bonded over our love of Lynn:

For when you can't afford to be comfortably numb, Comfortably Lynn.

Follow Nick and TSF on Twitter (@nmccarves, @TSFTennis) and check out TSF if you haven't already. We even did a podcast with my media center bestie, Chris Oddo. You can download it here.

July 28, 2010

It was clear after the four straight breaks to start the match that this one wasn't going to be all that predictable. By the middle of the first set Kimiko was in the zone, hitting flat and hard with her "ping pong" shots (Elena's words, not mine) and getting to the net when she could. It was inspired stuff. By the second set Lena had made the necessary adjustments. This was the first time the two had met and it Elena some time to implement a game plan that involved getting the ball deep. Kimiko was getting quite a bit of pop on any ball that she could lean into. Kimiko raced out to a 2-0 lead before Elena reeled off four straight games and eventually took the set.

The third set would see two players go on streaks of good and bad, with Elena building a 3-0 lead and Kimiko clawing back to 2-3. From there it was a battle of grit and will, as each had chances to break. But they would trade holds until Elena served it out.

The match ended on a bit of a sour note. Elena hit a ball that looked out, no call was made, Kimiko hit it, looked at the line judge, and Elena hit a winner. Kimiko looked up and pleaded to the umpire for a challenge, but to no avail. GSM, ED. In her post-match presser with Japanese media she looked gutted. She had clearly had a good cry in the locker room. She fought like a champ until the end. Her technique let her down but her intensity and competitive fire was there. The new generation of WTAers could learn a lot of her.

As for Elena, it wasn't a bad match considering it was her first match since Roland Garros. She was strong off the baseline, the serve looked ok (not great, but ok) and her movement was good. She'll probably play Shazza in the quarterfinals if Shaz beats Govortsova tomorrow. That match will be a good test for both, though I tap Maria to come on top. She's going to feast on on Lena's serve.

A bit late with my Tuesday recap. This week, I've somehow developed the same bad habit I had as a lawyer: I forget to eat. So I stopped at a neighborhood 24 hour diner (Sparky's!), wolfed down a patty melt and two Newcastles in, like, 30 minutes, and crashed out for the night. The rest was *much* needed after going off 2-3 hours of sleep for the prior three days. I've just powered down two slices of pizza and I'm watching the shambolic break-fest that is Kimiko vs. Lena. Oh wait...hold... on...Kimiko gets the first hold of the night at 3-2.

But enough about me. Let's talk about me.

I missed me some Mono/Harkleroad action, which was a bit of a bummer. I really wanted to introduce myself to my good friend Chuck. Perhaps the universe was intervening. Wisely.

But when I arrived on the grounds my AnaDar was once again confirmed, as she was practicing. Hard. Only three people were watching her and that includes me. It's like Indian Wells 08 all over again.

Swung by the media center to pick up my ticket and caught the end of the Mono presser. She enjoys fishing and shopping and once caught a large salmon. But don't worry, you guys. Mono's a lover, not a fighter. She releases the horribly traumatized salmon back into the water to tell his harrowing tale. WITH BOTH HANDS.

I finally settled in for some live tennis after hearing that Dani had taken the first set over Shahar with a bagel. Oooh! I'll get to see Dani kick ass! Awesome. Yeah. That didn't happen. The crowd was pretty firmly pro-Shahar, though my section was pro-Dani.

Bless the volunteers here at Stanford, but this tournament, at times, is very reminiscent of Indian Wells. I can't tell you how many times I get stopped and have to show my media badge and ticket to get around the grounds. They even know my name by now and still force me to flash my badge and wait as they make sure that it gets me into that specific area. I'm a lawyer. I love rules, too. BUT COME ON.

The lack of alcohol at the tourney makes me long for Tracey. I would be lying if I said I didn't think about the old water bottle trick. Not that I'd really be drinking. Last time I drank at a tournament I broke my $500 camera and was hungover for days. But, you know, I like options.

After Dani lost it was off to roam the grounds. I had a nice chat with Rachel again, who is volunteering at the tournament every night. The poor girl had to do scorekeeping for the Ana/Dinara session, which was the coldest night of the tournament so far. Shivering like a mofo does not help you keep track of forehands and backhands. But her keen eye caught Kimiko as she was walking by us and she got a nice pic. Kimiko's a doll and her smile lit up an already beautiful day in Stanford.

From there it was practice watching time. Masha, Jay Z, and Mels were all warming up. While Maria's practices can be pretty funny early in a tournament, once she gets down to business it's all...well...business. Bored, I left to watch the second set of MaKiri/Lucic. That was a bit of trip. I'm always taken aback by MaKiri's grunt. It's so loud. As for Lucic, check her out if she's at a tournament. She's quite the emotional character on the court and not in a bad way (thought she lost). More in an entertaining way.

Watched me some Sam practice. She's just such...a jock. Everything about her. The way she hops and skips between drills, the business-like nature of her sessions, the bouts of frustration. It's fun to watch. Towards the end of the practice David's calf started cramping. I couldn't make out the beginning of the conversation but as Sam started quietly making her way back to the baseline she turned and yelled "I think you're deficient!" Which...in any context, is funny. Anywho, she was pretty playful during her practice session, pretending to thwap Simmone with a ball at one point. Maybe having her pops around helps.

Then it was on to the match of the day: Masha vs. Jay-Z. The ladies put on a great show of clutch hitting and intensity. By the middle of the match you really felt like the crowd didn't know who they wanted to win.

Back to the warm confines media center for Masha's presser. I wasn't planning to stick around for the outcome of the Mels/CanWoz match, especially when it looked like CanWoz would run away with the second set. And then, at 5-1, Mels BELIEVED. And those of us left in the media center started paying attention. And she started crawling back. When she forced a third I finally had to go out to Center. After watching 3 games I came back inside. It was not scintillating tennis. But the crowd, or what was left it, was clearly helping Believe believe. She eventually closed it out in three and stayed on court past midnight to sign every autograph. Good kid. But I don't enjoy watching her strike a ball.

Well look at that. Kimiko just took the first set 63. I guess I should check this out. I don't know. I really want to see a Masha/Lena quarterfinal.

July 27, 2010

Another great day at Stanford, even if the temps did dip when the sun went down. It's really hard to tweet on an iPhone when your hands are shaking uncontrollably.

It was the first official day of the tournament. I know this because the media center was humming. Significantly more crowded and lots of chatter.

Pulled into the parking lot right as Stubbsy was parking her car 20 feet from me. She was walking to the courts with Lisa Raymond. They totes jaywalked.

Watched 45 minutes of Aga's match. That was about all I could take.

Ana's attempts at trash-talking are as threatening as you'd think they'd be. She was returning serves against Heinz, who was clearly puff-balling them into the box. Exasperated, she finally issued a challenge: "Come on. Hit one." The crowd oohed and laughed at the challenge. Heinz reached back and smashed a scorcher. Into the bottom of the net. He tried again. Missed. Tried again. Missed. He missed, like 7 straight serves. Finally, Ana, with a wry smile, taunted him. "Is that all you got?" Again, the 20 person peanut gallery laughed. Ana, of course, giggled. Heinz continued to miss. "I'll give you 10 push-ups if you get this one in." Nope. Miss. She finally stepped off the court and gestured for him to serve. He fired one into the box. "Oh, so when I'm standing there it's a problem?" She stood back in. He missed. Ana? You're pretty. It's distracting, even to old men like Heinz. Needless to say, it was not a productive return session. Thankfully, Kleybs pulled a Heinz in their match so returning wasn't really a big deal.

Watched Melanie Oudin hit for a while. Ok, like 5 minutes. But it wasn't particular compelling.

I actually spent most of the day watching live tennis matches, as I had missed quite a few practice sessions in the morning. The weather has cooled a bit so it was perfectly pleasant to sit out in the sun.

Zeljko clearly hasn't learned a thing. After Domi's match, which she won fairly easily, he had her back out on the practice courts hitting some intense drills for over an hour. The dude definitely has a philosophy.

Liezel's voice will curl your blood.

I've always wondered how Lindsay and Liezel are buddies. Their personalities just don't seem to mesh. It seems to me that Lindsay would find Liezel kind of dorky and ridiculous and not in a cute and endearing way. Well, I got to see a bit of that today. Lindsay hit an ace that *barely* ticked the net. Liezel called a let. "Oh, come on. Technicality!" "Ok, fine fine fine. It was an ace." "Liezel. I was kidding." Not sure the tone comes across but I laughed.

Stanford is a "dry" campus. Learn something new every day.

Funny sight: Dinara, Ana, and Zeljko, on the practice courts, side by side by side. According to @sblily, Team Domi was actually on the center court when Dinara took the court next to them. They proceeded to move to the furthest court down. Ana, being the aloof kid that she is, took the middle court.

Once again, Vika reminded me how great her hands are at the net. She absolutely carried her team to the decisive win over Dani/Wicky. MaKiri just had to stand there and look pretty. Watch out, world. Wait until Vika figures out how to get to the net. She'll terminate 9/10 of those points. Really impressive touch.

Masha held an autograph session and the line was looooooong.

It is *very* difficult to watch your favorite players play and not be able to cheer for them. As those who have attended tennis matches with me know, I'm a yeller. Obnoxiously so. But with that media pass around my neck, that would be pretty damn inappropriate. So I sat. Quietly. Sitting on my hands.

Ok, I wasn't completely quiet. As @sblily knows, I was totally muttering under my breath the entire time. But no clapping, no come ons, no davis, and no ajdes. It was painful.

Got to sit in my first presser and of course it would be for Ana. She was as advertised. I've seen enough of her pressers to know what to expect. It did indeed feel like you were sitting in on a therapy session. I didn't ask any questions but that's mainly because the one I was most curious about (her thoughts on the wildcard sitch) was taken care of. No pressers from Dinara or Kimiko. It was quite late. Instead, the WTA went into the locker room to get some quotes from them and then circulated those. Helpful.

Oh, and I saw Brandi Chastain. That was pretty cool. If it's possible, she's fitter now than she was when she ripped off her shirt in 1999. She was hitting with Bethanie for a media event.

Hmmm...how to sum up this match? Kimiko was up 2-0 in the first set but Dinara was able to win it 64. When Kimiko served for the second set, Dinara broke her to force a tiebreak. Which she lost. 7-0. The third set was tight early on before Kimiko went on an absolute tear, painting lines, firing aces, and basically breaking Dinara's spirit. There would be no crying out to the heavens, cracking of racquets, or screaming into hands.

There was, however, when appropriate, a hell of a lot of vamosing. Which was pretty funny and thoroughly confusing to the crowd.

Call it zen, call it resigned. From perspective it was more uncertainty than anything else. Uncertainty about her game and uncertainty regarding how to do with Kimiko's game. Dinara's serve was pretty atrocious. But apart from that, this was a good quality tennis match. Extremely entertaining rallies and fight from both players. Mucho credit to Kimiko, obvs. She didn't wilt and she brought the fight to Dinara.

But don't worry about our little Coconut. She seemed ok after the match:

"It was my first match back from injury, so I am pretty positive and will keep working hard and try to improve day by day. My back feels fine and that is the most important thing for me and I will continue working hard."

Honestly, between all the positive third-party reports (from Elena and Ana) about Dinara's current state of mental health and that quote, I think Dinara fans should be on the positive tip.

July 26, 2010

It's 3:25am so I'm going to have to make this a bit short. Some notables from today:

Absolutely thankful that Steph was able to make it today to pick up for my slack. Without her we wouldn't have seen this.

Walked into the media center and was greeted with a "Andy Murray? Really?" Once again I am left to defend my cooter-love for the Muzzard. An indefensible position, I know.

Got to finally meet @sblily. Nothing like kicking off a day full of tennis than yukking it up in the stands with a seasoned and snarky tennis fan. Looking forward to seeing her throughout the week.

Bethanie lost in qualies. Bummer.

Ana seems to have a new trainer, a woman who is very tan and, I'm guessing by the fluency and ease with which Ana spoke to her, Serbian. Will try and get more deets. Whoever she is, Ana is clearly comfortable with her. Ana was a chatty Cathy all through her warmups. Seemed in good spirts today.

Kleybs. Shirtless. Mind you, I was in jeans and a long sleeve all day. I reiterate: IT AIN'T THAT HOT.

The All Access Hour was really fun. That said, it was my worst nightmare realized. I had repeatedly expressed concern that if I ever actually got a media credential and actually got to interact with these players in a normal way, I would probably like them and thus, not be able to bring my A-game snark. Sure enough, I was totally charmed by Mono. That doesn't mean I'm not going to call her crazy, but I'm definitely going to feel bad about it. Having a conscience, even a rudimentary, childlike one like mine, is a bitch.

The free food and Evian is a godsend. Stanford, you classy little bastard.

Maria and Scott seem to get along quite well. He's a charming and easy-going motherfucker. That said, I'm not sure Maria's all too keen on the random warmup exercises he makes her do. While Ana seemed to buy into the system, Masha seems...over it. She can barely do 3 reps without giggling.

Totally got called out for my Twilight love in the media center. WHY DO I PUT THESE THINGS ON THE INTERNETZ???

Because I have no shame.

Sam has an amazing techno ring tone.

Met FD Reader Rachel tonight. Very cool. Took a picture of her with Ana.

A guy was standing outside waiting for Ana to sign after her night session. He said his friend really wanted to get a picture with Ana but might not get there in time. So he scrambled to find a scrap piece of paper, begged to borrow a Sharpie, and wrote out "Hi Phil!" on the paper. When Ana came out he asked her to hold it up, which she did, giggling the throughout. After he took the pic, she softly said "Tell Phil I said hi." Steph and I cackled loudly all the way to my car. "Ana, you already did. You held up a sign that said 'Hi Phil.' You said hi. To Phil." Kid never fails to crack me up.

Was going through my pictures in the media center when Ana suddenly walked in. She walked by me when I had a HUGE picture of her on my screen. Not my best moment.

If you think a sock tanline is bad, you clearly haven't seen a wristband tanline. *cough*Sam*cough*. I kept thinking she was wearing a white leather cuff or something.

Dinara came out after her night session and signed and took pictures with everyone. She then stood on the sidewalk for a good 10 minutes waiting for the car. It was kind of awkward, seeing as how we were all standing 20 feet from her waiting for Ana.

I was really impressed by the turnout over the weekend. Obviously the qualie sessions were free, but the walkways were a bit crowded. And the fans were really knowledgeable. Which is to be expected on qualie weekend, I suppose.

Met Matt Cronin again today and met Doug Robson for the first time. Both were uber nice. And really good question askers. Thankfully. By my count, there were only five print journalists at the All Access Hour. Lord knows I wasn't planning on saying shit.

Sam has small hands. Either that or her ginormous forecep dwarfs it. It's a good thing I recorded her interview because 90% of it was me pondering how the hell she gets her hand around her racquet handle.

Mono wears brown Crocs flip flops. An...interesting choice.

On my way to the restroom I saw Domi, Zeljko, and Dejan on the track. Domi was in black bootie shorts and trying to jump Zeljko. Sorry...jump on Zeljko's back. I briefly thought about going back to get my camera, or even whipping out my iPhone, but I honestly could not be bothered. I just...don't care.

Hey, you know how a certain tennis journo said that Dinara looked preggo at RG? Yeah, he can take his e-book and shove it up his ass. Oh, wait. It's an e-book so it actually isn't a physical, tangible thing. FOILED AGAIN!

Maxim is here with Elena. Mama's at home. Speaking of which, no Dragana either. Bummer. She would really fit in here in Stanford.

Dinara was really crushing the ball today. The serve still looks iffy. Sam and Masha were a bit pissy with themselves.

Last Sam tidbit: She's going to Facebook headquarters tomorrow. Can we just take a moment to laugh about one of the quieter, shy, private players schilling for Facebook? Dear WTA: Next year, send them to Twitter HQ. (And yes, I *know* you're reading this because you're going to give me shit about it in 7 hours.)

July 24, 2010

Confession: I love Stanford. I'm not talking about the tournament. I'm talking about the university. See, when I was a kid my parents didn't have a lot of money. So they had to come up with cheap ways to entertain my kid sister and I on the weekends. This mainly involved the four of us piling into our green Volkswagon bus and going on road trips. When I was nine years old we visited Stanford for the first time. It was the first university or college I had ever visited and I thought it was the absolute coolest thing. We biked around the campus, visited the Rodin Sculpture Garden, went into Memorial Church, and I absolutely fell in love. I ended up doing a California history report on the school in fifth grade, would go to sports camps here in middle school and high school, and drive an hour and fifteen minutes on a school night to see a Stanford Women's Volleyball game or basketball game. Hell, in high school I would drive to Stanford and study at the library.

It's pathetic, I know.

All his is to say, given my love for the school, I'm kind of predisposed to absolutely blow sunshine up this tournament's ass. The minute I hopped out of my car and smelled the eucalyptus in the air, I had a stupid grin on my face.

So with that in mind, here's my report after Day 1 of Qualies:

Had a bit of panic attack when I was directed to the "credential" office, gave my name and was told it wasn't on the list. "Uh...hold on, let me pull up the confirmation email on my phone." After fumbling with my stupid iPhone for 5 minutes, the woman finally said "Are you media?" "Yes." "Oh, that's a different office." PHEW! I walked down to the media center, picked up my pass, and settled in.

You can request workspace at the tournament and I, surprisingly, had been given a spot. In the front row. This would be awesome except that as I unpacked my laptop I realized that there's no way I can ask a question at the pressers. Because if I do, the players will look in my direction and see the "I Am Not An Asian Tourist" sticker on my laptop. And to add insult to injury, two weeks ago I put a Hello Kitty sticker on it. So yeah...SILENCE.

Everyone in the media center was super nice. And they read Forty Deuce. I was mortified.

Packed up my shit and headed to see what was going on the practice courts. To my pleasant surprise (read: SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!) Ana and Makiri were practicing next to Lena and Dinara. I only got to see 10 minutes of Dinara's practice but she was crushing it. Lena's still using that abbreviated service motion. Ana's toss was ALL OVER THE PLACE and she was visibly frustrated. MaKiri was...MaKiri.

Kleybs practiced shirtless. Shahar had her right thigh taped.

Mono was set to the drawring at 1pm. We all know how that turned out. One funny moment: When it came time to draw her first round opponent, the tournament supervisor called out the number, and the supervisor in charge of matching the numbers to players said "Roger Federer." Mono giggled like a school girl and said "That would be perfect." She knows this isn't wasn't a drawing for Match.com, right?

After the draw was done they opened up the floor for questions. "Any questions for Marion?" Crickets. Sorry. I just couldn't bring myself to ask her the burning question on everyone's mind: "So...what's your deal?"

Went to lunch with Love All at Cheesecake Factory. Ironically, mind you. I can report with certainty that their "smaller" lunch portions are still larger than any dinner I have ever had.

Came back on the grounds and was informed that I missed Dinara practicing next to Domi. Spent 30 minutes in the bathroom crying, obviously. But I must thank the kind gentleman who did a dramatic reenactment of Zeljko's behavior during the session. Let's just say it involved a lot of crossed-arms, standing akimbo, and stoicism, mixed with a touch of sneaky glances over at Dinara. SHE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU! Get over it!

Sam was back on the practice courts so I stood and watched her entire practice session from ground level. Had a lovely chat with my new favorite Bank of the West Classic usher, Donald about life, love, and other mysteries.

Once Sam was done it was pretty quiet on the grounds so I headed back to the media center. It's quite fun just sitting in there and talking to other journos and tournament people. I'm just not used to being surrounded by knowledgeable tennis people. It's fun to just pick up on little factoids and tidbits that you don't know. Quite intimidating as well. All I have to offer is, "Um...I want to have sex with Andy Murray." It's not really a conversation starter.

Sat there and blogged for a bit, enjoying my free Sierra Mist, when Chris, who is blogging for On The Baseline this week, leaned forward and said the following magic words: "Sharapova's on Center." With those words we both quickly packed up our stuff and headed over. Sure enough, Masha was there. That was a nice coda to the day.

So Day 1 is in the books and it was a huge success. Mainly because I didn't make a fool of myself. Well, except for that whole Ana/Kleybs business.

Can't wait for tomorrow. More qualies, more practice, a Dinara/Jay-Z photo op on the Stanford Campus, and All-Access Hour.

July 21, 2010

Alright guys, here's your chance. I want to try to give you what you want. So here we go.

What questions do you want me to ask the players at Stanford. And I'm actually being serious here.

No, Curtis, I won't be asking Ana if she'll marry you.

I'll be attending the All-Access hour with Sam, Lena, Bepa, and A-Rad on Sunday. I'll also be around for pressers and may get a chance to request one-on-one interviews with some of the players. I'll also put some calls out on Twitter as the tournament progresses.

Let's use our powers for good, this time. Leave your suggestions in the comments or feel free to email them to me.

Interesting article on J-Cap with lots of quotage from Chrissie, Pam, and Gimeldouche. I'm not even going attempt to both psychoanalyze her or sketch out what I think she needs to do get back on track. That would be completely uncalled for and atrociously arrogant. All I will say is this: It would be a tremendous act of luck if she had endured the career that she had and came out "normal". I mean, it's nice that Chris Evert acknowledges that she let her down, but that apology and $.25 will get you a gumball.

J-Cap has always been a fighter. I hope she's able to channel that tenacity positively. Because from personal experience I know that life pretty much blows when you spend all your energy fighting yourself and everyone else. Best of luck to her. It ain't easy and it ain't an overnight process.

According to a poll, five of the USA's top 10 favorite female athletes is a tennis player. Man, Americans still really love Anna K? And I call BS on Danica Patrick. I have never heard ANYONE say they liked her.

But yay Mia! Before there was Sam Stosur, or my dog Chase, there was Mia Hamm, the most reluctant sports superstar ever.

While the rest of us are taking a much needed break from the intense first half of the season, the journeymen and women of the ATP and WTA keep plugging away with success. How do you define a journeyman? To me it's someone who literally plays tennis for a living. They probably don't have coffers of cash to fall back on from prior Slam/Masters/Premier wins, or an easy payday from sponsors that allow them to play tennis without too much stress over how they're going to afford their apartment at home. These are the men and women who plug away week in and week out, picking up paychecks wherever they can. Glory may come every once in a while, but really, they're playing to win matches so that they pay to get to their next tournament. You have to tip your cap to them.

So big ups to Albie, for taking the title in Stuttgart. Sure, Gael had to retire due to an ankle injury he sustained in the first set. But Albie plugged away all week, played some quality tennis, and walks away with a pretty swanky Merc. Maybe it's just the lawyer in me but all I can think whenever I see prizes like that is "Shit, the taxes are gonna suck."

And how about the month Kaia's had? She's someone that has to play with confidence to win and she seems to be putting it together. People seem to forget that just over a year ago she was ranked #18 in the world and she was a legitimate upset threat at any tournament she entered. Nice to see her back-up her win over Sam at Wimbly with a solid run in London and now a tournament title in Palermo.

Sorry, Flavs.

And Agnes! You keep giving me false hope that you're on your way back, but I'll take it, even if you insist on wearing the samurai headband.

And then there was Nico, who beat Sod in his own backyard in Bastaad. Sod wasn't all too happy about it. I get being pissed at the umpire, but come on. At least congratulate your opponent.

July 11, 2010

Aravane picked up her second title of the season, beating Gisela in three sets. How's this for a stat: WeatherVane is 4-0 when she makes the final of a tournament. If I were a betting man, I'd keep that stat in mind in the future.

The dubs final offered a bit of redemption for both Olivia and Flavs (Flavs lost 3 and 1 to her in the semis) as they picked up their fourth title of the year. It's starting to look like we're going to see them in Doha. That should be fun. I hope they get to go shopping again.

Guess who's gonna be firing hard-hitting questions at the likes of Masha, Dinara, Ana, and Sam?

That's right. The Tennis Gods, for whom I have slaved away for over two years, have finally seen fit to reward my efforts. I've been granted a press credential for the Bank of the West Classic, held right in my backyard at the school I always dreamed of attending, at the end of the month. I have no idea what FD coverage is going to look like but it sure will be fun. The entry list is already stacked with a stable of FD faves.

I just wanted to thank all of you FD readers who have been extremely kind and supportive. You're the reason I got the pass. I mean, I have to report page views and whatnot in the media application. No doubt that you all "clicked" me through the door. I'll do my best to represent the FD Nation well.

Now, if you'll pardon me, I have to find a pinstripe suit, a hat, and rogueshly handsome foil who talks a mile a minute. It's time to unleash my inner Rosalind Russell.